


so tenderly, you watch me burn

by bpddennis



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Angst, M/M, dennis and mac fight, dennis ft his big feelings, dennis fucks up, they're gonna bang at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 17:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12512172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bpddennis/pseuds/bpddennis
Summary: //so tell me, am i crazy?//mac finds it too good to be true when dennis finally complies to being his boyfriend.so when dennis cheats on him, mac doesn't know who's to blame.





	so tenderly, you watch me burn

**Author's Note:**

> yo, this idea came to me when i was falling asleep one night and i decided to just roll w it lmao  
> honestly i feel if mac and dennis became a thing, dennis would def fuck up a few times
> 
> ((i dont condone cheating and stuff. be loyal to ur boo))

[9:35am. saturday morning. philadelphia.]

mac is relaxing on the couch in his and dennis' apartment with coffee that went cold a good twenty minutes ago. to say he slept like shit would be an understatement. dennis wasn't home by the time he usually was, but mac felt him crawl into their bed well past 2 or 3 in the morning. dennis is usually one to check in with mac, with the exception of last night. so he anxiously waits on the couch for dennis to wake up.  
in the next hour, dennis comes out of their bedroom, bedhead at its' finest, rubbing at his eyes. he slowly takes a seat next to mac on the couch, and mac raises an eyebrow at him.  
"hey, man, are you okay?" mac asks.

dennis' head falls into his hands. "uh - yeah." he murmurs at the ground.  
mac nods and looks down at his coffee mug. "oh. well, you didn't check in last night, so i was worried."  
dennis looks up, sporting extremely exhausting eye bags. he places his hands on his knees.  
"yeah -uh, listen, mac, i have to tell you something about that."

mac should have seen the bus coming, but it hits him head on.

"what?" mac asks, trying to keep his voice at a normal tone, already feeling his heart pounding to get out of his chest.

dennis sighs.  
"what, den?" mac asks, this time a little more anxious, a little more on edge, as he grips the handle of the coffee mug. 

"there - i -, okay, listen, don't be mad," dennis starts, pleading with his eyes as he looks at mac.  
"look, what'd you do, den?" mac insists, feeling his chest heaving.

"i - fine." dennis looks down, and then uses everything in his body to force himself to meet mac's eyes. "i slept with - with someone yesterday. that's why i didn't check in. i'm -i'm sorry, mac, okay?" 

it almost looks like dennis is about to reach out to touch mac's knee, or waist, so mac shoots off the couch, setting his mug down in the process. "what the fuck?" he asks, like he really needs any further explanation. "what were you possibly thinking?"

dennis looks up at him. "well - i don't know, man, i got really drunk-"

"you're always really drunk, i'm always drunk, i don't sleep with other people!" mac shouts back, cutting dennis off. 

dennis looks like a kicked puppy, and mac doesn't know if it's some act to get mac to calm down.

"i know, i know," dennis starts, standing up. he really looks brutal, his lips are chapped and his voice sounds like shit and mac wants to ask how loud he was last night. mac wants to know everything and nothing about it at the same time. mac wants to drop dead. 

"then what the fuck, dennis?"  
and dennis notes how little mac calls him that. for the past 5 months, it's always been "den", a pure, simple nickname just reserved for him. and although referring to him by his entire name doesn't seem like a scary implication, dennis knows mac better than mac knows himself. mac's pissed. mac wants to rip out dennis' lungs and wants to punch him until he's bleeding on their kitchen floor. 

"i don't know, mac! i've never done this whole dating shit before!"

"well, it's been a good fucking 5 months, so obviously you're capable of not being a piece of shit," mac retorts back, walking away from dennis, just trying to breathe for 3 fucking seconds. 

"yeah, fine, but i've never dated someone this long, especially a guy! i fucked up, i'm sorry!" dennis follows mac into their bedroom. mac's sitting on the bed with his hands gripping his hair. 

"mac, i'm sorry." dennis tries again, reaching for him. mac immediately stands up, ignoring dennis' touch.  
"you're not fucking sorry, dennis. you've never been sorry about anything. you care about yourself and that's it." he snaps. 

dennis' eyebrows furrow together. "how the fuck can you say that to me? i don't have to fucking date you. obviously i give a fuck about you to be doing this." dennis voice burns in mac's ears, it's drips down mac's arms, it stings, it feels like acid. he feels it all over him and he wants to rip out dennis' vocal cords. 

"well, i didn't know being with me was such a burden." mac replies quietly, and then turns to his closet to find a suitcase. 

"mac, come on, i didn't mean it like that." dennis sighs, one hand on his hip. he watches mac sift through their closet and tries to imagine a life without mac and he wants to die. 

mac finds a ratty suitcase in the back and just starts throwing shit in it, not even noting what's his and what's dennis'.  
"yeah, you did. i don't know why i thought you could be different. same old dennis, same old system." mac snaps back, zipping the suitcase bitterly. 

normally dennis would do everything in his power to make this mac's fault. he'd turn the argument on him, curse at him, manipulate him. he'd do everything to convince mac that this was his problem, his fault, and mac would believe him and mac would stop being angry. and dennis would win.  
but this is different, and dennis even knows it. dennis knows this one is on him, and his stupid actions, and his stupid drinking. 

"c'mon, don't pack, don't - don't do that." dennis stutters, panic starting to well up in his chest. 

"fuck off, dennis." mac lifts the suitcase from their bed and shoves his shoes on by their bedroom door. he cooly strides to the front door, paying no attention to dennis' objections.  
as he goes to turn the doorknob, dennis' shaky hand grips his wrist. he looks the most worked up mac has seen him in a long time. he can see those stupid tears rimming his dark eyes, threatening to fall down his pale face.  
and mac just waits for them to drip down, hopes they do. hopes dennis cries for days. for months, for years.

"are you really just leaving? where are you gonna go?" dennis chokes out, still managing to include venom in his voice.

"who cares, you won't be there." mac shrugs and twists the doorknob, and leaves as quickly as he can. dennis knows it's futile to chase him out. mac won't listen to him, but dennis knows he deserves that, deserves all of mac's rude replies, glances of disgust, and a silent treatment in full force.  
dennis knows he's a piece of shit. he knows he's a bad person, and mac has always loved him despite the fact.

dennis isn't proud of a lot of the shit he's done. but he's never felt so low.  
he can handle when dee's mad at him, when charlie says he hates him.  
but upsetting mac like that - it feels like he's falling into hell. he's never felt so lost and ashamed and his skin is starting to burn and his eyes keep fucking watering and god damn it, tears keep sliding down his face every time he angrily wipes them away. 

so dennis just lets it happen. dennis cries. dennis mopes on their couch in one of mac's huge t-shirts. dennis attempts to call mac a few times, thinking maybe mac is just as torn up as dennis is. mac doesn't answer. dennis considers drinking and then tastes the alcohol from last night again, and is immediately turned off by the idea. 

but the truth is, mac's never needed dennis.  
dennis has always needed mac, since day 1. since that day he cowardly asked mac for the smallest amount of weed.  
dennis has always been completely gone for mac, whether he knew it or not.  
and mac -he'd do just fine without dennis. he'd be fantastic without dennis' tantrums and fits and outrages and manipulative behaviors. 

and it makes dennis' insides rot. 

dennis doesn't know how long he cries throughout the day, or how long he watches the home screen for the dvd of predator; just waiting for mac to stride in and hit play. 

it feels like decades. everything without mac feels like a decade. 

 

so dennis eventually stops crying and dennis draws a bath like his mom used to when he was younger and upset. and he just sits in the lukewarm, soapy water for what - again - seems like decades. 

minutes turn to hours in that bath. dennis doesn't hear the front door open, doesn't hear shoes being taken off, or a coat and keys falling on the couch. he only notices that mac's finally home when he's standing in the bathroom doorway, arms crossed.  
"whatcha doing?" mac asks quietly.  
dennis can't find his voice. he just shrugs. he wants to go under water and never come up again.  
mac saunters forward, takes a look at the bath, and sits on the ground, arms resting on the bathtub's edge.  
"what time is it?" dennis asks, his voice coming out small and scratchy. the two refuse to look at each other. 

"like, a little after midnight." mac replies, just as soft. 

dennis nods.  
they sit in silence for a moment, dennis moving his right hand distractingly along the water in small circles.  
"do you hate me?" dennis mumbles. he says it like it's a secret. 

"god, no. den, i get it, okay?" mac sighs. "this shit isn't your thing. do i wanna drown you right now? yeah but, i mean - it was a fuck up and you didn't mean it." mac finishes quietly, looking down at his hands.  
dennis feels his eyes filling with those stupid tears and silently begs any existing god for them not to fall.  
"okay." dennis says.

mac looks up. "babe, are you crying?" he asks softly. dennis wipes at his cheeks quickly.  
"i don't know."  
"it's okay if you are, you know." mac lifts his chin and dennis hates that it forces him to look at mac. he can't imagine how gross and weak he looks. can't imagine the pathetic that's just plastered on his face.

mac, without hesitation, wipes under dennis' eyes with his thumbs. he places his hands gently on dennis' neck and pulls him in like he's glass. he kisses dennis' like he might break. 

"i'm sorry." dennis says against his lips. dennis fists his wet hands into mac's shirt and grips the material like it's all he has. one of mac's hands rests on dennis' chest and the other cradles the back of his head.  
"i know." he wraps his arms around dennis' neck, the best physical contact he can manage with dennis in a bathtub.

"this water's cold now."

mac laughs into the crook of dennis' neck. dennis smiles slightly at the vibrations against his skin.

"then get out and let's go to bed dumbass. unless, y'know...you were gonna go see that person again?" mac smirks back. 

dennis groans into his hands. 

"if it makes you feel any better, i can never top again after being your bottom." dennis weakly jokes. 

"might as well go make sure then." mac states, draining the tub and pulling dennis out. "you know, just to make sure you know where you belong." he says a little too darkly, and dennis feels heat bubble in his stomach. mac starts to walk to their bedroom as dennis pulls a towel around his waist.  
"don't put clothes back on." mac calls over his shoulder.


End file.
